Aunt: Stacy Peterson wanted out of her marriage

Friday

After more than three hours of testifying before the grand jury, Stacy Peterson’s aunt Candace Aikin emerged Thursday from the Will County Court Annex building dabbing tears away.

After more than three hours of testifying before the grand jury, Stacy Peterson’s aunt Candace Aikin emerged Thursday from the Will County Court Annex building dabbing tears away.

“At the end they asked me what kind of a mother [Stacy] is, what kind of a person she is and would she ever leave her family. That was really hard,” Aikin said, still visibly shaken from her testimony. “I’m glad I was able to talk to the jurors and tell them my love for Stacy and what a great person she is, and to be able to help the case in any way that I can.”

The grand jury, which is investigating Peterson’s Oct. 28 disappearance, also briefly heard from a young female friend of Peterson’s husband Drew, who is a suspect the disappearance. Authorities are also investigating the March 2004 drowning of Drew Peterson’s third wife Kathleen Savio. He has not been charged with a crime in either case.

Aikin declined to comment on the specifics of her testimony but said she was asked about Stacy Peterson’s personality and relationship with her husband.

“They wanted to know how close I was to Stacy, about different things that happened, how their [marriage] was,” Aikin said. “I just said she wanted out.”

Aikin, of El Monte, Calif., last saw her niece in August. Although Peterson had told her aunt of marital problems for more than two years, Aikin said Peterson was seriously considering leaving the relationship by the time she visited in August.

“She wanted out,” Aikin said. “There was so much pressure. Fear too.”

Shortly after Aikin concluded her testimony, Kim Matuska, the 22-year-old tanning salon employee who was reported to have recently spent the night at Drew Peterson’s home, rushed out of the court annex building.

“I can’t talk about it,” Matuska said. “I’m trying to get out of this.”

Drew Peterson was issued a written warning for speeding earlier this month while he was in route to pick up Matuska after the driver of a car she was in was arrested for drunk driving. Matuska denied having a physical relationship with Peterson.

“I’m not seeing Drew,” she said Thursday.

When contacted at his home Thursday, Peterson said police were harassing Matuska by subpoenaing her to testify.

“They were very rude to her and intimidating,” Peterson said of the officers’ behavior when they learned of the relationship.

Peterson said the two have not spoken recently and blamed authorities and media attention for creating the rift.

“It’s hard and overwhelming for a young girl to be involved in all this,” he said.

Peterson also blamed police harassment for a felony weapons charge filed against him last week.

The charge alleges Peterson owned an AR-15 assault rifle that was shorter than minimum 16 inches required by law. His attorney Joel Brodsky has said the charge should be dropped because Peterson used the rifle as his second SWAT team duty weapon, and therefore is exempt from state law.

On Wednesday, Peterson’s publicist released a photo of Peterson, in uniform, getting an autograph from actor John Travolta with a rifle strapped around his shoulders. Peterson said the rifle was the AR-15 and the photo proves the Bolingbrook Police Department knew of the weapon.

Department spokesman Lt. Ken Teppel said the photo does not clearly show which weapon Peterson was carrying and that if it was the AR-15, there is no record of Peterson obtaining permission to use the weapon.

Danya Hooker can be reached at dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com.

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